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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29717061">The Rules of Communal Living</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makoto_Mori/pseuds/Makoto_Mori'>Makoto_Mori</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Acts of Defiance [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach, Bleach (Live Action Movie)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Accidental Cuddling, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Live-Action Movie Verse, Sharing a Bed, There's Only One Bed But They're Idiots, Thunderstorms, Vulnerability</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:29:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,513</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29717061</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makoto_Mori/pseuds/Makoto_Mori</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>'“Get up!”<br/>“No!”<br/>“What do you mean no? It’s my bed!”<br/>“You have to be considerate of the rules of communal living, Ichigo!”'</p><p>Ichigo and Rukia come to blows over their living situation during a thunderstorm.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kuchiki Rukia/Kurosaki Ichigo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Acts of Defiance [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2185104</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>51</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Rules of Communal Living</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello!<br/>What's this, me writing more than two fics for a fandom??? I don't know I'm still in IchiRuki hell. Please accept my self-indulgent live-action movie-based offering. Rukia's line about "the rules of communal living" always kills me and inspired this.<br/>Enjoy!~</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Get up!”</p><p>“No!”</p><p>His breath stalled, leaving him incredulously sucking in his own rage.</p><p>“What do you mean no? It’s my bed!”</p><p>And she looked <em>so very</em> comfortable there, wearing one of <em>his</em> shirts as pyjamas, tucked under <em>his</em> comforter and reading <em>his</em> manga.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking” Rukia said seriously “I think we should rotate who gets the bed.”</p><p>“And why the hell should we?” Ichigo spluttered.</p><p>“Because my back is starting to hurt from sleeping in that closet” she said, sticking her nose in the air in her usual prissy way “And you get to sleep in the bed every night. It’s not fair.”</p><p>“Not fair? Not fair?!” he stammered “I’ll tell you what’s not fair - you coming into my room and treating it like it’s a hotel!”</p><p>“You have to be considerate of the rules of communal living, Ichigo,” she chided “And that means sometimes one must compromise-”</p><p>“I’ve had it up to here with the rules of communal living!” he said, feeling a vein popping out on his temple. He was already on edge tonight. This was the very last thing that he needed. “These <em>rules</em> only ever seem to benefit you when you’re trying to get your own way-!”</p><p>A bellow of thunder and flash of lightening interrupted him in the middle of his rant and made him flinch visibly involuntarily. Rukia said nothing, only tilted her head to the side annoyingly.</p><p>Their standoff was cut short by the sound of a knock on the bedroom door.</p><p> </p><p>“Ichigo, I’m coming in!” his dad called, and Ichigo scrambled to cover Rukia with his – or rather <em>their communal</em> - comforter. He made sure he was sitting down on the bed before the old man edged his way in the door.</p><p>“Just came to check on you. Ready for bed?” he asked his son “Did you use the lavender bath salts I got you? Yuzu said she heard it’s meant to be very calming.”</p><p>“Yes” Ichigo answered irritably, feeling a flush of embarrassment creep up his neck “But I’m not <em>not</em> calm anyway.”</p><p>“Well that’s good” Isshin said, setting down a mug of tea and some assorted tablets on his desk “But I brought you some tea anyway. It’s camomile, it’s good for sleep. And some sleeping tablets too, if the tea doesn’t work.”</p><p>“I don’t need tea or sleeping tablets, I’m fine!” Ichigo snapped. The last thing he needed was Rukia hearing any of this and getting yet more ammunition on him. He could almost imagine her smirk from under the covers.</p><p>“I know, I know” Isshin said, easing his son down onto his side in the bed. Ichigo winced as his dad pulled back the covers, but Rukia had thankfully done her usual vanishing act. “I just know how wound up you get with thunderstorms.”</p><p> </p><p>Ok, so he wasn’t <em>fond</em> of thunderstorms – and he didn’t know a single person who was - but he wasn’t a kid anymore. He hated the rain at the best of times, and storms just seemed to add an angry burn of salt to the wound. But sure, the sound of thunder made him a little jumpy and the lightning flashing outside his window startled him a little, but he didn’t dive into his dad’s bed and cry like he used to when he was a kid. He didn’t need the old man fussing over him like this.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not wound up, okay? I’m perfectly calm!” he said, suppressing a shudder as another clap of thunder shook the house.  </p><p>“Sure, sure, whatever you say” Isshin said, unconvinced “You’ve been looking really run down lately. Is your anaemia acting up? You need to remember to take your iron tablets, it isn’t going away on its own-”</p><p>“I’ll remember, don’t worry” Ichigo replied shortly “Now get out!”</p><p>“Goodnight. I’m next door if you need me” his dad said, kissing him on the forehead before moving to switch off the light and shut the door on his way out.</p><p> </p><p>Ichigo’s silent seething at his dad’s babying was interrupted by a simultaneous almighty roll of thunder and the feeling of an exhale of breath on his neck, making him almost leap out of his skin with fright.</p><p>“Don’t scare me like that!” he whisper-shouted “And get off me!”</p><p>Rukia had reappeared in her previous position, except now that he was also lying there, she was squished between the wall and his back, her body pressed right up against his.</p><p>“No” she replied hotly “I was comfortable. I’m not moving. You move.”</p><p>“Well this is my bed, so I’m not moving either” he huffed. He rolled over so his weight was crushing her against the wall harder.</p><p>“Keep that up, and then you won’t have to worry about Grand Fisher coming for your soul” she hissed in his ear, pinching the skin at his neck and twisting so hard he was certain it would leave a mark. Great, that would be easy to explain at school. He eased off her grudgingly and moved over a little to give her some more space. Not that it mattered anyway, seeing as it was a single bed that Ichigo was one growth spurt away from outgrowing himself.</p><p> </p><p>They laid there on the mattress like spoons in a kitchen drawer, listening to the sound of each other’s impatient breathing and waiting for one of them to yield and find somewhere else to sleep. His muscles stayed tense, both aggravated by Rukia and in anticipation of more of the storm. It was due to rage all night and into the morning too according to his phone. He sighed. No sleep tonight then.</p><p> </p><p>Behind him, Rukia shifted to get comfortable. One of her arms snaked beneath the pillow under his head and she turned slightly so more of her was spread out along his length, her cheek rested on top of his. She was so small that her knees barely touched the back of his thighs. Less like spoons, more like he was wearing a tiny, angry, annoying backpack with boundary issues.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you scared of thunderstorms?” she asked, her voice a breathy whisper in his ear. She never really asked him personal questions.</p><p>“I’m not scared of them” he refuted stubbornly “I just don’t like them.”</p><p>“I used to…not like them too” she said, a rare softness coming through in her voice “When I didn’t have anywhere to live.”</p><p>“You were homeless?” he asked, craning his neck a little in attempt to look at her, but with her pressed on top of him he couldn’t meet her eyes (she didn’t look it, but she was either heavy enough or strong enough to pin him in place against the mattress). He forgot sometimes that she had lived this whole other life before meeting him that he knew precious little about. Probably because she gave so little away with her stiff demeaner and high and mighty attitude. But every now and then, something slipped through the cracks, and it always made him curious to know more. She hummed in affirmation.</p><p>“From when I arrived in the Soul Society until the Kukichi clan adopted me. But that was a long time ago” she said carefully, and with that the issue was closed. He wouldn’t get any more information on that tonight at least. “Now I love thunderstorms.”</p><p>“You’re nuts” he said, shaking his head “How the hell can anyone enjoy this?”</p><p>She paused for a second.</p><p>“Well when I’m inside watching a thunderstorm, it reminds me that I’m not outside in it” she said, voice thick with tiredness “It’s scary not having a roof over your head when the sky is angry like that. Sometimes it was the only good thing about living with nii-sama’s family.”</p><p>There was a beat of silence.</p><p>“I never thought about it like that, I suppose…” he said, pondering the latest insight into her inner world. Rain had never been a blessing to him, and it was almost impossible for him to think of it as one.</p><p> </p><p>Another roll of thunder shook the house violently, catching Ichigo by surprise and causing his whole body to shudder. She brought her hand down soothingly across his chest, accidentally or not, and he felt himself still as she repeated the motion a few more times. The tension started to dissipate from his limbs, and his body started to feel heavier. He wondered idly if she was using some sort of <em>kido</em> on him, one that made his heartbeat and breathing slow down to match her relaxed pace until they were almost in sync. The storm was outside hammering down on the world, but he was safe inside with Rukia’s warm weight on top of him.</p><p> </p><p>“I suppose we can stay like this… But just for tonight…” he said, but he knew by the way her lips curled into a smile against his skin that she would make a liar out of him.</p><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u">Omake:</span>
</p><p>“You drooled on my face!”</p><p>“Well maybe if you had have moved over and let me have some of the bed I wouldn’t have!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!<br/>I hope you enjoyed it! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div></div>
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